When pregnancy leads to bed rest: a mom’s tips

Bed rest can be a stressful time for parents while they wait days and weeks to see if their little one will arrive before term.

For Alyssa Hoyt, restricted activity started at 20 weeks, with bed rest starting at 27 weeks.

At 31 weeks, Baby Teagan tried to come early, so Alyssa spent 10 days in TMC having labor stopped twice. Alyssa went home on bed rest until Teagan – now a healthy, bubbly toddler – arrived at 37 weeks.

“I really loved all of the nurses and doctors and got to know them throughout this time, which really helped me to stay positive and compliant too,” Alyssa said.

Precisely because bed rest can be a difficult time, Alyssa shared the top five things that helped her get through:

Family and friend support. Alyssa’s husband spent every night with her and took her four-wheeling in her wheelchair. Her mother brought special treats like homemade lasagna. Just taking a break from the monotony of the everyday and being able to laugh and seek comfort in love and friendship made all the difference.

Remember: This is all temporary. Don’t dwell. There is an end to it and you can get through it.

Comply with your doctor’s orders. The goal is to have a better outcome and a healthy, safe birth.

Look to the future. Alyssa researched toys and car seats and things she would need when she brought her baby home. Being actively engaged instead of just waiting helped her feel like she had more control.

Being engaged and active. Having an endurance mindset as a runner and a running coach, helped her keep in mind that this was a different kind of endurance, but it still required mental toughness and grit. Alyssa did a lot of research about what to expect, and met with physicians to understand the possible outcomes so she would feel more prepared.

Alyssa had a unique inspiration, too, in that she herself was a premature baby. Thirty years earlier, her mother, Beth Day, was at Tucson Medical Center, standing by anxiously while her baby recovered in the newborn intensive care unit.

Alyssa would spend 9 days there, until she was strong enough to go home. While Alyssa was at TMC on bed rest, staff found the handwritten log book, capturing her own time in the unit.

She and Teagan were both 5 pounds, 4 ounces, separated by 30 years.

“It was amazing to be here, with my mom, while potentially having an early baby,” Alyssa said. “Knowing my mom went through it with me I just knew it was going to be ok: we got this.”

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About TMC

Tucson Medical Center, licensed at more than 600 beds, has been Tucson’s locally governed nonprofit regional hospital for more than 70 years.

TMC is Southern Arizona’s leading provider for emergency care and pediatric care (including Tucson’s first Pediatric Emergency Department), with top-notch intensive care units for adults, children and newborns.